Arkam Ventures launches second fund with a target corpus of $180 mn

Through the fund, the firm will make investments in Series A and Series B start-ups, with a focus on emerging sectors like electric vehicles and manufacturing technology

Arkam Ventures, an early-stage technology-focused venture capital (VC) firm, on Tuesday announced the launch of its second fund with a target corpus of $180 million. Through the fund, the firm will make investments in Series A and Series B start-ups, with a focus on emerging sectors like electric vehicles (EV) and manufacturing technology.

Started in 2020 by venture capitalists Rahul Chandra and Bala Srinivasa, Arkam plans to double down on its investments in Middle India Digitisation, with a focus on financial services, skilling, food, agriculture, healthcare, mobility, and SaaS.  

Its portfolio currently consists of 16 new-age companies, including fintech firms such as Jar, and Kreditbee, food/agritech companies like Jai-Kisan and Jumbotail, skilling companies like Smartstaff and Cusmat, as well as SaaS companies like Spotdraft and Signzy.

“Six of Arkam's Fund I investments are already leaders in their respective categories. They are redesigning markets with a tech-based business model and scaling rapidly to serve hundreds of millions of customers,” said Rahul Chandra, MD, Arkam Ventures.

“We believe the Middle India digitisation and SaaS opportunity will lead to the creation of 100 new mega businesses over the next decade. Arkam II will participate in this exciting phase of value creation by leveraging its network of high-quality institutional LPs, seasoned investment team and access to highly driven founders,” he added.

Also Read: We bet on startups catering to the middle of the pyramid: Arkam co-founders

The firm launched its first fund worth $106 million back in 2021, with investors such as British International Investment, SIDBI, Evolvence, Quilvest, US Institutional Investors, and large family offices. With Fund II, the firm will build a portfolio of 20 tech start-ups, while ‘top-tier’ global institutional investors and family offices will form the LP base for the fund.

“We launched Fund I with deep conviction on the Middle India digitisation and SaaS opportunity.  Our LPs supported us, and it’s been gratifying to see the thesis play out both at the macro level and with Arkam investments,” said Bala Srinivasa, MD, Arkam Ventures.

“We feel our thesis is a multi-generational opportunity and is in its early stages. As we deepen our Middle India and SaaS playbooks, it gives us an edge in identifying amazing companies and new business models and being the VC of choice for the best founders targeting this opportunity,” he added.

With Fund II, Arkam expects to deploy more capital and back its strongest founders and companies in follow-on rounds. The fund will also bolster its portfolio advisory function focused on organisational design, go-to-market (GTM) strategy, and finance and operations.